My Poor Fanny!: Abuse in Mansfield Park and the Marriage Market

Many kinds of abuse are present in Mansfield Park, including physical, mental, emotional, and, I would argue, sexual. If we look at the literal pun of Fanny Price’s name, it means “Vagina Price”. This article begs the question of “what is the price of Fanny’s fanny?” and teases out this very fruitful metaphor. Through it, Fanny shows psychological symptoms of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Her marginalization is so extreme that it impacts her personality and her actions throughout the novel. Mansfield Park could be seen as a microcosm of women’s role in society, and the abuse that exists in the marriage market during the Regency period in which Jane Austen was writing.